Right In Front Of You
by alwaysmarauders
Summary: It took every bone of restraint in her body not to go barging into the living room and slap Percy right then and there.


Ginny stood in the kitchen, fists clenched. It took every bone of restraint in her body to not go barging into the living room and slap Percy right then and there. She had heard it all, even though her mother had sent her to the kitchen to stop her from getting involved. She heard every last horrible thing Percy said to their father and she couldn't remember hating anyone more. She heard her mother cry and as Percy stormed out of the room and went upstairs. Motionless, she sat at the kitchen table, waiting. Only when Percy appeared in the kitchen entrance did she stand up.

For the moment they could merely stare at eachother. Ginny glared and for the first time that night Percy's face did not hold a look of fury. He stared back at his sister, blank faced. A hint of regret might have been in his eyes, but Ginny couldn't tell. She knew that she had always been the sibling that he had a soft spot for. She was his baby sister, once so helpless, who was looking upon him with disgust. Then, the disgust turned to rage and the rage mixed with sadness.

He avoided her glance after that and pushed open the back door, bags in hand, and disappeared through it. Ginny had half the mind to just let him go without a word, to hate him so much that she never spoke to him again, but she couldn't. She chased after him, not yet knowing what she intended to say.

Stepping outside, the petrichor left over from the short rain pour that morning reached her nose. It had been a hot, dry month, and the smell in the air was all that was left of the first rain they'd had in weeks. Ginny had always loved the smell, but now she had the feeling that her mind would always associate it with this memory.

"..Why?" she asked when he turned to face her once more.

His jaw was strong and set as his teeth briefly clenched. She saw a variety of subtle emotions pass on his face. "The minister is right. It would be idiotic to think otherwise. There's no use in-"

"That's not what I meant." Ginny frowned. Truth be told she still didn't know what to say to her brother, but the frustration and anger in her was building up.

"How could you? How could you just leave them like this? You don't think about anyone but yourself, do you?" She paused, head shaking. Ginny knew how distraught their mum would be after this, and she couldn't bear to see her like this. And their dad? He wouldn't say anything, but she knew that what Percy said to him had crushed him. "I don't care what your think or believe; you don't just leave your family!"

"Ginny, it's more complicated than that! This is my job we're talking about. If I want to move up I can't be associated with people like…" He trailed off, and for a moment his anger was marred by shame.

"People like what? People like us?" Ginny spat out. Her face had reddened in anger. "If you really think that's the kind of person you want to be, then fine, leave. But they're not going to stick by you. If you do one single thing that the ministry deems wrong you'll be outcasted by the people you're blindly looking up to! They're not you're family. They won't care about you in the end."

She was done. She had nothing left to argue. If he wanted to abandon them she couldn't stop him. She stared at him, letting her expression go as blank as a sheet of parchment belonging to someone with writer's block. "Just take a look at what's in from of you. Take a good look at what you're leaving behind."

"I…"

For a moment she thought she had changed his mind, that everything would be okay.

"I...can't." Then he was gone, sucked up into the air around him.

She stared at the spot he had disaparated from for an unmeasurable amount of time. Finally, she unclenched her fists and went back inside to console the mother and father whose hearts her brother had broken.

* * *

_An: Written for the Hunger Games Round 1 with the prompts petrichor, Percy Weasley, The Burrow, fury, and "I...can't"_


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